Winter is a marathon for our plants in Colorado. It's an endurance test, and it can take its toll on our landscapes. Typically: Most of us don't get a lot of precipitation during winter in Colorado. We get drying winds that pull the moisture out of plants. We also get...
Buying flowers for western gardens can feel like a lot of work. Especially when you live in the semi-arid, gotta-have-some-moxie West — like Colorado and Utah! This isn’t a place where you a dig a few holes, plop in some flowers and watch them grow into a lush jungle....
Would you like a long-blooming perennial... ... that attracts butterflies and interesting moths, gives you color all summer AND is drought tolerant? Yes, pleasssssse! I can’t wait to introduce you to Jupiter’s Beard (aka, Red Valerian). Its botanical name is...
Many years ago, I cheered on a friend as he ran a local marathon. As my friend began running, he looked like he belonged in a Nike ad: Strong. Healthy. Determined. Just do it, baby! And he set a great pace until about mile 16 … … when heat and exhaustion caught him...
During the spring of 2020, my husband and I re-worked part of our yard with new garden beds. (Any other weekend warriors out there?) I wanted to include drought-tolerant red flowers that would grow well in Colorado’s poor soils and hot, dry climate. And that’s when I...
In my opinion, there is nothing that will suck the soul from your gardening body like hail You can have your flowers looking SO DARN GOOD ... And after a few minutes of hail, your Instagram-worthy flowers have become a sloppy, shredded mess. Ugh. Mama Nature doesn’t...
Who else loves Columbine flowers? (I have both my hands up.) You’ll see Columbine flowers growing along alpine hiking trails in the Rocky Mountains… and in western gardens. When I see them on mountain trails, I want to turn into Julie Andrews at the start of The Sound...
The tulips in your spring garden have given you gorgeous color. But what do you do with tulips after they've flowered? They're done blooming, and now your tulip leaves are turning yellow and flopping on the ground. They don't look so great. (This is normal, BTW! You...
Spring can be one of the best times to plant perennials — the flowers that come back. "Cool temps are ideal for planting perennials..." wrote David Salman, respected western plantsman of Waterwise Gardening LLC, in 2022. "Perennials thrive in cool weather, putting...